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THE Namibia Competition Commission has warned the City of Windhoek not to engage in restrictive behaviour with telecommunication companies who intend to roll out fibre in the city.
This call, according to the watchdog, follows complaints since 2017 that city officials were engaging in anti-competitive behaviour in the information communication and technology industry, specifically in the development of fibre optic infrastructure around Windhoek.
According to the competition watchdog, these complaints, some of which were lodged by major players in the industry were all assessed to determine whether there have been possible infringements of the competition law.
No wrongdoing was, however, found, the commission said, especially on actual infringement of the competition law.
The watchdog noted that the development of fibre optic infrastructure is highly contested by the relevant competitors in the market, and the fact that the City of Windhoek is also an aspiring competitor in the relevant market, means they might use their position to conduct business unfairly.
Last year, The Namibian reported that the city and internet access provider Paratus Telecommunications were at each other’s throats over the installation of fibre optic networks in parts of Windhoek.
The matter went as far as the High Court, where an interdict was obtained compelling the city and the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) to not interfere with or obstruct Paratus’ installation of a fibre optic network that was in progress in parts of Windhoek.
“Although the Commission commends the entrance into the market by the Windhoek municipality which has the potential to enhance consumer choice, given the position it enjoys over its downstream competitors, the Windhoek municipality should offer access to the essential facility on equal terms and conditions, and in a non-biased manner,” said the competition watchdog.
It further said any unwarranted delays, restrictions, constraints or reluctance in approving applications for the purposes of installing fibre cables in Windhoek without reasonable justification may be construed as a way of restricting competition in the relevant market.
Should any such behaviour be reported, the Commission said it would be monitoring developments in the industry for possible anti-competitive practices which may come under competition law scrutiny.
In the battle between Paratus and the city, Andrew Hall, the chief executive officer had told the High Court that Paratus has been installing fibre optic cables in Windhoek since 2013 and the City of Windhoek has increasingly been making demands on the company.
Hall said in the process the city had delayed the company’s work, causing frustration to their customers and putting Paratus at risk of losing income and having to pay penalties if unable to deliver contractually obligated services.
In its defence, the city had alleged that Paratus caused damage to the tune of N$4,5 million to the city’s roads and pathways, through the digging of trenches along pavements and across streets to place fibre optic cabling over a total distance of about 35 kilometres.
Cran last year awarded the municipality a class comprehensive telecommunications service licence which was challenged by telecommunication industry players such as MTC, Telecom Namibia and Paratus.
The fibre wars also come at a time where companies have just realised that Namibia is just too small and the widespread population does not allow information technology companies to receive solid returns on infrastructure, and the need to share assets is no longer avoidable.
Other than returns, infrastructure sharing is also said to allow companies to divert investment to other innovation areas, and not on infrastructure alone.
According to Group Managed Service Accountants, infrastructure sharing enables operators to focus on the competition in the service layer regardless of the extent of the sharing.
Operators can share whole or strategically unimportant parts of their infrastructure to share infrastructure costs while providing acceptable performance.
Furthermore, these savings can facilitate mobile operators’ migration to next-generation technologies and provide their customers with the latest technology available.
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